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J . - s
IJU
e
H : The MFDP and' NCNP hav filed a damage suit against
Sen. Eastland (Miss. D) and his employees who stole
material from the FDP at the NCNP convention in
Chicago last Fall. What do you see as the real motive
behind Eastland's attack on the MFDP ?
G : This is not simply an attempt to destroy two organizations,
this is an attempt to define what shall be acceptable
political action in this country. What, is in question
is the right tojjjLa—nt And the way to stop political
dissent - and it is quite evident now - is to isolate,
is to label , and to lie. Eastland has lied, he has stolen
materials that belonged to the MFDP , and distorted
their use and content. However, it would be unfortunate
if MFDP and NCNP won this fight against Eastland's
witchhunt alone, because this is really a fight for
everyone who is concerned about the right to dissent,
and radical, indigenous, issue-orientated political
organization...which is exactly what the MFDP is all
about.

A description of the overall contents of the MFDP files in the Wisconsin Historical Society, including a short history of the MFDP, opens this folder. This particular MFDP folder deals largely with the MFDP's "Congressional Challenge": its efforts to prevent the seating of white segregationist Mississippi congressmen in 1965 on the grounds that they were elected unfairly as African Americans had been systematically prevented from voting in their elections. Other topics deal with the advent of the War on Poverty--many of whose programs were administered by segregationists to the detriment of the people for whom it was intended--and the increasingly desperate conditions of displaced Delta agricultural workers by 1966. The folder includes minutes from a statewide MFDP meeting held in May 1965 which call for a march in Jackson in support of the congressional challenge and to publicize the need for free elections. A variety of press releases about the basis for the congressional challenge, obstacles to the congressional challenge (including the Washington, D.C., arrest of 10 Mississippians who had come to speak with the Clerk of Court who had been stalling in the preparation of key documents), the next steps in the congressional challenge, and its ultimate defeat. There's a pamphlet on the congressional challenge put out by Californians for the Congressional Challenge. Repeated statements by Martin Luther King, James Farmer, John Lewis, and Lawrence Guyot--as well as state resolutions and a list of supporting organizations--favoring the congressional challenge. Assorted form letters on "what you can do to help the MFDP [in its congressional challenge]." A printed document, "A Message from Mississippi: Help Us Unseat 'Congressmen' We Never Voted For!" along with an article by George Slaff on the congressional challenge, which begins with a fascinating first-hand account of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission hearings on obstacles to voter registration in Panola County, Mississippi. Legal documents filed by African American congressional candidates who state that white Mississippi officials have not allowed their names to be placed on the ballot and ask that the municipal elections in Sunflower County for spring 1965 be postponed until fall 1965. Articles by Drew Pearson on Speaker of the House John McCormack's role in obstructing the congressional challenge, and on former Mississippi governor and white supremacist J. P. Coleman's appointment to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court by Lyndon Johnson. MFDP statements on Coleman's judicial appointment. A blank application form for summer 1965 MFDP workers. A press release about the summer 1965 student-based Washington Lobby organized to lobby for the congressional challenge. A press release about mass arrests and police brutality that took place in Jackson, Mississippi, during a June 14, 1965, demonstration, an MFDP newsletter about the same issue, a call for a mass meeting about the arrests, and conditions for detainees at the State Fairgrounds, and an announcement about a hunger strike among the protesters. John Perdew's "Mississippi Legislature: Old Wine in New Bottles" discusses the legislation passed during the 1965 special session of the Mississippi legislature. There's an MFDP statement clarifying its lack of an official position on the Vietnam War. Part of an article on "The Southern Freedom Movement" by Anne Braden in the Monthly Review. A press release about the Loyal Democrats of Mississippi and a list of their steering committee members. An August 8, 1965, document by Joseph Meissner and Steven Nelson called "The Mississippi Challenge: Some Questions and Answers." William Fitts Ryan's and the Medical Committee for Human Rights' statements in support of MFDP's congressional challenge. A statement from Edwin King encouraging MFDP members to go to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congressional representatives to support the challenge. Statements by Martin Luther King and by the National Council of Churches on rumors that Congress will dismiss the congressional challenge. A statement by members of various state bar associations in favor of the congressional challenge. An MFDP report on the defeat of its congressional challenge. A Congressional Record account of the defeat, with the roll call vote listed. Lawrence Guyot's statement on the defeat. Transcripts of Lawrence Guyot's remarks, made after the congressional challenge defeat, about the future of the MFDP in Mississippi, and of the MFDP's prospects of being seated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968. Both Andrew Kopkind and Richard Rovere's magazine articles on the congressional challenge acknowledge the justification for the congressional challenge but criticize the MFDP's strategies and outlook. A late 1965 MFDP "Report from Mississippi" discusses voter registration since passage of the Voting Rights Bill (and the use of federal registrars in some counties as well as Mississippi's continued resistance to its provisions), plans for the 1966 elections, the white opposition to desegregation of public schools, and mass arrests of African Americans in Natchez. A 1965 MFDP document called "The Reapportionment of Mississippi." Handwritten excerpts from New York Times articles about MFDP elections in 1966. A January 1966 MFDP "key list." Meeting minutes from a January 1966 MFDP statewide convention. Annie Devine has a fundraising letter for the MFDP from the same period and reports on the beginnings of the food stamp program. There are several 1966 MFDP reports on continued violent incidents directed toward African Americans and MFDP's efforts to deal with growing poverty. There's the text of a telegram from Lawrence Guyot and other attendees at a Poor People's Conference to Lyndon Johnson, pointing out that poverty program funds are not reaching the people for whom they were intended, and begging for assistance. The text of the telegram the group got in response is also here. The demands made by unemployed, evicted persons taking up residence at an abandoned Air Force base in Greenville are here. New York Times articles describe widespread unemployment among agricultural workers due to mechanization, government subsidies to planters, increased use of chemical pest control, and planters' fears about a minimum wage for agricultural workers, as well as about the "Strike City" near Greenville. Victoria Gray has a concise description of the issues leading to poor people's occupation of the Air Force base. An MFDP newsletter points out that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has invalidated municipal elections in the town of Sunflower in 1966 because the registrar failed to abide by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and that the repressive former police chief of Indianola has been placed in charge of the new poverty programs to the detriment of poor African Americans. A letter from an African American man working in the distribution of food commodities points out many examples of racial discrimination in the program. A 1966 MFDP legal document asks for a stay of the June 1966 Democratic Party primary election based on charges that state officials have prevented African Americans from registering to vote.

Copyright to these documents belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. The principal organizations have been defunct for many years and copyright to their unpublished records is uncertain. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. We have attempted to contact individuals who created personal papers of significant length or importance. Nearly all have generously permitted us to include their work. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

J . - s
IJU
e
H : The MFDP and' NCNP hav filed a damage suit against
Sen. Eastland (Miss. D) and his employees who stole
material from the FDP at the NCNP convention in
Chicago last Fall. What do you see as the real motive
behind Eastland's attack on the MFDP ?
G : This is not simply an attempt to destroy two organizations,
this is an attempt to define what shall be acceptable
political action in this country. What, is in question
is the right tojjjLa—nt And the way to stop political
dissent - and it is quite evident now - is to isolate,
is to label , and to lie. Eastland has lied, he has stolen
materials that belonged to the MFDP , and distorted
their use and content. However, it would be unfortunate
if MFDP and NCNP won this fight against Eastland's
witchhunt alone, because this is really a fight for
everyone who is concerned about the right to dissent,
and radical, indigenous, issue-orientated political
organization...which is exactly what the MFDP is all
about.

Copyright to these documents belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. The principal organizations have been defunct for many years and copyright to their unpublished records is uncertain. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. We have attempted to contact individuals who created personal papers of significant length or importance. Nearly all have generously permitted us to include their work. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.